


Suck-up

by BirdsHaveTeeth



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), I done did it again!, Jules is in trouble, Julian you sneaky sneak, M/M, Other, cute lil drabble, no specific pronouns are used, oh rats!, so they must perish, those rats are trying to finesse yo' bread!, wholesome fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 08:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20206390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdsHaveTeeth/pseuds/BirdsHaveTeeth
Summary: “Alright, what did you break?” You chuckled, and the look on Julian’s face screams “caught” when you do.





	Suck-up

**Author's Note:**

> ****_A/n: Stealing the apprentice's pumpkin bread is a federal crime in these parts._  
Warnings: None! (except perhaps inhumane pest control?)  
Words: 900+  
. . .

You hum contentedly to yourself inn no particular tune as you drag the wooden spoon through the cauldron upon the stove, the utensil continuing to stir the mixture even as you step away from it to grab a jar of herbs out of the cupboard to your right. You re-capture the spoon’s handle once you’ve returned to the pot, the almost sandy-looking texture of the liquid turning bright red as you add the herb before dissolving into a calmly-flickering violet.

You can sense Julian’s approach before you can hear it, so you’re not surprised when you feel two slim arms coil around your waist from behind and pull you into an all-too-familiar chest. The faint scent of latex, sea-salt, and just an undertone of something sweet surrounds you just as comfortably as his embrace does.

“Hello, Julian.” You chuckled softly as he bent down to rest his chin atop your shoulder, his auburn curls ticking the side of your neck and jaw.

“Hello, indeed, Darling.” The Doctor practically purrs into your ear, you swear for a moment you can almost feel the vibrations that implied your lover was more cat-like than you’d thought. His eye shifts down to the cauldron as you continue to sift through the grainy mixture, adding a few things to it here and there. “What are you concocting now, magician?”

“Poison.” You can’t help but tip your head back and laugh when the plague doctor goes rigid behind you, no doubt a guffawed look gracing those handsome feature of his.

“I beg your pa—why would you ne—?” You hear him stutter over your shoulder, amused by the slightly disturbed undertone he speaks with and the gulp you feel against your shoulder blade.

“ _ Rat _ poison, Love.” You playfully re-assure, and he sags against you, expression going from mortified to mild contempt, eyes rolling and arms tugging you closer if possible.

“Oh.” You send him a sideways grin over your shoulder, stealing a brief kiss that he melts into, lips chasing yours for a moment as you pull away. Whatever irritation he’d been feeling before dissolves as his blush darkens. He’s always been so easy to fluster, even with the tiniest of affectionate grazes.

“Getting into the pantry again?” He asks knowingly, if not a bit dreamily and far off as he does, and you can do nothing but nod. Your eye twitches in agitation as you think back to the giant, furry creature you’d found munching on your packaged pumpkin bread this morning.

Not the best way to start your day to put it lightly.

You have no clue where they are even coming from, but you do know that you want them _ gone. _ And since the rat traps were only working half of the time, you’d decided to bump up the intensity a few notches by mixing up a quick, fast-acting potion the would no-doubt make them re-consider their current real-estate. Plus, Julian kept stress-eating all the marshmallows you used for the traps anyways, he’s seriously got a real problem with those.

I mean it’s admittedly kind of cute, watching him stuff his cheeks full of them while simultaneously sobbing over a mood swing,  _ but the rats.  _ And although Julian has warded off ghosts, evil goats, angry drunks, and vampiric eels, he and you quote: “Doesn’t mess with the likes of rat-kind, no thank you.”

So the rodent issue inevitably had fallen into your own hands, which is where the need for this brew came in.  _ Nobody _ fucks with your damn bread, damnit!

“Have I told you how gorgeous you look today?” Julian sighed into your ear, nose nudging your cheek affectionately as you turned your head, eyes wary, skeptical as you caught the doctor’s sultry stare. You raise an eyebrow but decide to play along, for now.

“Yes, this morning about five or six times, Jules.” You huff, eyeing the doctor’s reaction as you say so. He’s nervous about something, you can tell in the way his cheeks fill with color and he starts to sweat ever so slightly, eye breaking contact with yours for just a moment.

“Oh, did I? No harm in telling you again how much I adore you though, right?” He laughs, though it sounds just the slightest bit strained. He’s never been good at hiding his feelings, especially from you.

“You’re acting quite strangely tonight…” You accuse, eyes narrowing suspiciously as the red-haired man behind you flashed you a charming smile—not innocent at all in its entirety—only cementing the idea that he was being too abruptly flirty and flattering, even for Julian.

“What? Am I not allowed to show my love and appreciation for my spouse?” He defends with a grin that only confirms that he’s lying through his dumb, blindingly-white teeth. What a sniveling little suck-up!

“Alright, what did you break?” You chuckled, and the look on Julian’s face screams “caught” when you do.

“You’ll find out.” He laughs heartily, nuzzling his face into your neck guiltily and grinning sheepishly as you click your tongue and resume working. He had, in fact, managed to knock over a shelf of elixirs onto the floor just a few moments ago, he had feverishly cleaned up the broken glass—because he’d feel awful if you got hurt—though the mixture of concoctions had melted through the floorboards before he could salvage any of it…

It was best you don’t know that little detail yet.

  
  



End file.
